Summary of Select Spectrum Auction Results

Below is a summary of spectrum auctions completed this year that I did not report on. Some of these auctions are particularly interesting. For example, the 2.3 GHz band auction in Hong Kong follows a failed attempt to auction this band in early 2009. At that time, the hype around WiMAX was subsiding as interest in LTE was gathering strength. Now, three companies won the 90 MHz band for about $61m. One of the winners told me of their plan to use the band for LTE services, although this would be TD-LTE. No indication as to when it will happen.

Another interesting one is the Thai 3G auction that raised just about the reserve price, a natural consequence to limited number of bidders (3). AIS being the only company paying slightly above the reserve price after reportedly outbidding itself. The winners are accused of price fixing. Regardless of what happened, one cannot expect a competitive auction when the number of bidders equals the available bands. The failure is in not having more players. Alternatively, the reserve price ought to have been higher, which is a failure by the regulators. I don’t mean to defend the winners – but this is an expected consequence when competition is absent.

Honk Kong

Date

6-Feb-12

Operator

Band

Channel

Bandwidth (MHz)

Price (HK$)

Price ($)

$/MHz-PoP

Hutchinson Telecom

2360 – 2390 MHz

1×30 MHz

30

150,000,000

19,341,000

0.091

21 ViaNet Group Ltd.

2300 – 2330 MHz

1×30 MHz

30

150,000,000

19,341,000

0.091

China Mobile Hong Kong

2330 – 2360 MHz

1×30 MHz

30

170,000,000

21,919,800

0.103

Total

470,000,000

60,601,800

0.095

Denmark

Date

26-Jun-12

Operator

Band

Channel

Bandwidth (MHz)

Price (DKK)

Price ($)

$/MHz-PoP

TDC

801-821 / 842-862 MHz

2×20 MHz

40

627,804,000

105,646,857

0.476

TT Network

791-801 / 832-842 MHz

2×10 MHz

20

111,463,000

18,756,994

0.169

Total

739,267,000

124,403,851

0.374

Chile

Date

30-Jul-12

Operator

Band

Channel

Bandwidth (MHz)

Price (UF)

Price ($)

$/MHz-PoP

Claro

2.505 – 2.525 / 2.625 – 2.645 MHz

2×20 MHz

40

62,196

2,905,720

0.004

Entel

2.525 – 2.545 / 2.645 – 2.665 MHz

2×20 MHz

40

189,349

8,846,090

0.013

Movistar

2.545 – 2.565 / 2.665 – 2.685 MHz

2×20 MHz

40

10,777

503,484

0.001

Total

262,322

12,255,294

0.012

Romania

Date

24-Sep-12

Operator

Band

Channel

Bandwidth (MHz)

Total (MHz)

Price (€)

€/MHz-PoP

Cosmote

800 MHz

2×5 MHz

10

100

179,880,000

0.094

900 MHz

2×10 MHz

20

1800 MHz

2×25 MHz

50

2600 MHz

2×10 MHz

20

Vodafone

800 MHz

2×10 MHz

20

170

228,520,034

0.104+

900 MHz

2×10 MHz

2×12.5 MHz*

2025*

1800 MHz

2×30 MHz

2×15 MHz*

60

30*

2600 MHz

1×15 MHz

15

Orange

800 MHz

2×10 MHz

20

175

227,135,002

0.099+

900 MHz

2×10 MHz

2×12.5 MHz*

20

25*

1800 MHz

2×30 MHz

2×15 MHz*

60

30*

2600 MHz

2×20 MHz

40

RCS & RDS

900 MHz

2×5 MHz

10

10

40,000,000

0.210

2K Telecom

2600 MHz

1×30 MHz

30

30

6,601,000

0.012

Total

485

682,136,036

0.096

Notes:* short-term license, valid until April 5, 2014+ Excludes short term licenses

Thailand

Date

17-Oct-12

Operator

Band

Channel

Bandwidth (MHz)

Price (THB, b)

Price ($, m)

$/MHz-PoP

Advanced Info Service (AIS)

2100 MHz

2×15 MHz

30

14.625

475.9

0.228

TRUE

2100 MHz

2×15 MHz

30

13.5

439.3

0.211

Total Access Communication (DTAC)

2100 MHz

2×15 MHz

30

13.5

439.3

0.211

Total

42

1,354

0.216

As I post this, another auction is happening in the Netherlands which would be interesting to follow. I will report on it in a future entry.